The Mountains of Everest
by a moon's shadow
Summary: SkyWing animi were always killed before they hatched to save the SkyWings from "mortal danger". Now it has been centuries since the last SkyWing animi was killed and when one hatches, it is instinct to kill him. But what if he can manage to escape their claws? What if he can be the first SkyWing animus and prove everyone wrong? *10 years after Jade Mountain Prophecy*


**I am so sorry! This chapter is experiencing major difficulties! Fanfiction is not allowing the indents, changes for a new paragraph when the characters speak like it should and does in Word Document. So please bear with me while I try to figure this out.**

Shouting. He heard shouting as he crawled around in his egg. Before his brain could possibly understand the meaning of shouting, he still felt a jolt of fear at the loud angry voices. They made his heart beat fast and the sense of fear roared through him. He didn't like this feeling; fear. It made him feel weak, and helpless. He hoped to never feel it again.

"Look at its egg Zephyr!" shrieked a somewhat masculine voice. "Somethings wrong with it!" another voice accused. "Hush you two," murmured a soft voice the tiny dragonet immediately categorized as his mother. His heart warmed as he heard her voice continue. "Nothing is wrong with my dragonet." she growled with a sudden fierceness. "Now go fetch my sister, I believe she would like to see her nephew hatch." She ordered. The dragonet heard a grumble of laziness before two steady wingbeats echoed and the air stilled.

"Oh my little mountain, I promise to protect you no matter what or who you are." Zephyr murmured gently to the egg. The dragonet could feel his mother's snout pressed against the eggshell and he pressed his talon to the pressured spot.

The dragonet stared in amazement at his own talon, a thin membrane spread out between each claw. A membrane he knew would fall off quickly after he hatched. But a talon that he knew held so much power. So many things accessible from just the touch of a claw. He thought for a moment.

Yes. He would wait for just a couple more moments before he finally revealed himself to the world.

Suddenly his mischievous thoughts were distracted by the sound of heavy, plentiful wingbeats. There were more than there was the first time, he noted. His mother pulled her snout back from the shell, the warmth of her breath suddenly gone. "Sister!" an unfamiliar voice cried out. The dragonet felt the earth shake underneath his talons as the two dragons embraced. "I'm so glad you came," Zephyr said, warmth filling her voice. "I wouldn't miss this for the world," came the other voice."But dear sister, tell me, what is wrong with him?" "How do you mean?" "Why is its eggshell illuminating, radiating from the inside out? It looks as though a torch has been lit inside of the shell." The sister commented. "Nothing is wrong with my dragonet," Zephyr repeated only a little softer this time, like she was trying to convince herself of this being true.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" the sister asked Zephyr. "I'm not sure yet," Zephyr pondered, a small consistent tap was heard as she tapped her claws against the stone floor. The dragonet could tell that this was bothering her, why couldn't she come up with a name? Maybe it had something to do with his father being nowhere within earshot. "I think I'll know when the moment is upon us." Zephyr concluded and the baby believed her.

Once again wingbeats sounded throughout the valley. "Queen Amber!" a voice cried followed by the scraping of claws against stone as if the dragon had just made a crash landing. "Your Majesty," the voice panted, his voice dropping and wavered as he bowed to the SkyWing queen. "Continue" the queen said regally commanding him to stand. "You must step away from that egg immediately." The voice said frantically. "Glide, what are you rambling on about?" Queen Amber asked, annoyance trickling in her voice.

"That hatchling is an animus!" Glide announce. The cliff went dead silent. If whispers hadn't started to blossom from the small crowd that had gathered around his egg, the dragonet would have believed that everyone had just flown away without another word. "What are you talking about Glide?" The dragonets mother whispered hoarsely, panic reflecting in her own voice.

"You know we haven't had an animus for centuries," the queen said angrily, automatically rushing to defend her sister. "It's why his eggshell is like that," Glide continued boldly ignoring the queen. The dragonet felt a small bubble of fear again, it rose the surface and surrounded him. What was an animus and why did they sound so afraid of it? "Prove it," Zephyr growled stubbornly. A moment of silence fell over then, the dragonet sensed movement probably coming from Glide who was frantically searching his satchel or pouch. The dragonet heard claws against paper as the dragon removed a scroll from his satchel or pouch. "Here. It says right here." Glide said confidently, his claw poking at the paper making a loud popping noise. "Let me see that," the queen snapped and the dragonet heard the paper being snatched by her claws. "Animus SkyWing eggs may seem like they are illuminating from the inside moments before they hatch." The queen read loud and clear for the cliff to hear. Once again the cliff fell silent. "Are you sure that's what it said," came the mother's hoarse voice. She was given no answer. A long pause settled into the thick air, seemingly swallowing up everyone in it.

The dragonet heard a cricket chirp and a rock fall from great heights. The noise seemed to snap everyone back into it and voices started up again with great outrage. "You know what our ancestors did to animi?" a voice from the crowd shouted, everyone already knew the answer. The bubble of fear building inside of the dragonet popped. His heart beat racing faster and faster by the second. He too knew the answer. Frantically he tapped at the hard interior desperately trying to escape before something awful happened to him.

The crowd roared in response to the voice's question. The roars almost drained out the dragonet's heartbeat. He tapped harder, no dent was being made. _I'm going to die before I get to see my mother_ the dragonet thought frantically.

"No! Stop!" his mother cried. The dragonet paused for a moment, thinking that perhaps it was over that perhaps his mother could save him. "Look at yourselves." She called her voice crisp and clear. "Would you really kill a hatchling over a power he doesn't know he has yet?" she asked. The hatchling could sense the hesitation in the crowd's steps. Would they really kill a dragonet who hadn't even hatched yet? "Yes. We would." Raised a feminine voice over the silence. Zephyr cried out, as if she had been struck and he felt her scramble over to him. "I won't let them hurt you," she muttered. The dragonet called out, wailing for his mother.

"Sister, help me?" Zephyr asked. Silence followed once more. The dragonet tapped again, the egg responded with a satisfying crack. "They are right Zephyr," Queen Amber whispered.

 _TAP_ _TAP_

Another crack appeared. A string of light appeared and spark of hope ignited inside of the baby dragon.

"Amber!" Zephyr called frantically. "He could be dangerous Zeph!" his aunt pointed. "But you don't even know who he is yet. He is just like me and you, Amber." The mother growled fiercely. "He could be just like Darkstalker."

Fear stuck inside of the hatchling at the sound of that dragon's name. Not the dragon, no he hadn't met Darkstalker yet, but the fear inside of Amber voice as she said his name. "No son of mine with ever be anything like that monster." Zephyr growled, remorse and disgust filling into her voice.

 _TAP_

A hole had now appeared in the dragonets eyesight. Just one more tap and the egg would fall apart. The hatchling could sense it. Somehow. "We cannot risk it." Said Amber, her voice much clearer to the dragonet now. The feeling of fear pulsed through his veins along with determination, he would not die. No not today. Sticking a talon out of the hole, he made the hole wider. The sharp edges crumbling away to open up a large enough hole for the trembling hatchling to clamber through.

The cool mountain air stuck his scales as he took his first step into the world. It was night, he could tell from the two full moons that hung high in the dark night sky. _Is this what the world looks like? It's beautiful_. His small talons scraped against something he strangely automatically recognized as stone and he looked ahead at the world above him. He had guessed correctly they were on top of a cliff, a cliff that dropped into a forest below him. He could see the tops of the trees and the thick underbrush. It startled him how beautiful the world was, yet how horrible some dragons were.

Deliberately he had created a hole opposite to that of the crowd of angry dragons. Perhaps he could slink away into the night, they would never find him and he would be safe. But suddenly his mother's scent filled his nostrils and his heart gave way. She smelled like home, like bitter sweet love and honeysuckle in the evening. Somehow he knew what honeysuckle was and what it smelled like. He made a small mewling noise, hoping she had heard him. His prayers were answered as two amber eyes peaked over the top of the egg. The eyes widened and an audible gasp was heard.

"He hatched!" his mother exclaimed. Mutters of disappointment echoed on the cliff, they had missed a chance to kill him while he was vulnerable. Pride for himself swelled through him as his mother hurriedly scooped him up in her wing. She was the most glorious dragon he had lain his eyes on. Although to be fair she was the only dragon he had ever laid eyes on.

Gold tinted around her glittering amber eyes followed by dark orange scales, a color that looked almost burnt, but warm. Moonlight shone through a light orange wing membrane, he could see all the golden and orange veins that strengthened her. Her bright eyes were kind and soft and a stubborn flame was lit eternally inside of her, as if there was always something to fight for. Right now she was the only thing he cared about and he was the only thing she cared about.

A head suddenly popped over Zephyr's shoulder, she was glittering in jewels and showered in gold. Many necklaces hung from her long orange-red neck and red studs dangled in the air, only connected to the tip of her ear. Her eyes too where a bright amber. He however, did not see the type of kindness and warmth that shone in his mother's eyes. There was however a flame of fierceness and love for her sister, he could tell. A spark had ignited for him, he could see, the moment her eyes fell upon the small shivering dragonet. She had changed her mind about killing him before she even knew it herself.

"Zephyr, he's beautiful." The queen breathed, as if she had never said anything about killing him. Her eyes softened as she glanced over her nephew, but as she realized what she had said, regret and penitence filled into her orange eyes. His mother neither looked at her sister nor said anything to respond to her statement, she did not waver her eyes from him.

"What's his name?" Amber tried again, her eyes apologetic, fixated on Zephyr. "Everest," Zephyr responded barely blinking, barley hesitating. "His name is Everest." Everest's chest swelled with pride as he heard his name said for the first time. _That's my name. That's me._

"Get him!" the moment suddenly was over his warm tingly feeling suddenly overcome by fear once more. The crowd roared and the ground rumbled and shook as the somehow larger crowd charged toward Everest and Zephyr. Zephyr acted immediately. Quickly she retracted her large wings, shielding Everest from any spews of fire or spears that might be thrown at him. She looked at him with her fierce flaming eyes. They seemed to say _they'll have to get through me first_ and Everest knew that they wouldn't.

Growls and screams filled the night air around them. Everest wondered in puzzlement how they could possibly win this battle. The possibilities were small and the casualties would be high, he could tell with sudden knowledge. A grunt sounded behind Zephyr's wings, and it was then and only then that she took her eyes off of Everest. "Amber?" she asked peering over her shoulder at the furious crowd. Everest raised his long neck and managed to sneak a look at the bloodbath. Amber and four other palace guards were struggling to defend Everest and his mother, but it was easy to see that they were outnumbered. Again Everest thought, the possibilities of winning this battle were very very slim.

Queen Amber snapped at a dragon, nipping his ear off, causing blood to spurt into the air before dripping down his already bruised face. He turned to retreat. "Go! Get out of here, take him somewhere safe." Amber told her sternly over the yelps and the screams of the SkyWings around her.

They exchanged a sisterly look that seemed to say everything that needed to be said and Zephyr nodded. She turned and placed Everest on the ground, but before he could register what she was doing, she was hovering above him and scooping him up gently with her large burnt orange talons.

The wind whistled in his ears as she tucked her wings, diving into the dense forest below the cliff they had previously been on. Everest's eyes widened as the ground got closer and closer the ground as green as his eyes. Dizziness overtook Everest's fear and he shut his eyes tight, bracing for impact as the ground seemed only a heartbeat away.

He heard the flap of wings opening and catching the wind and the world seemed to slow as he and his mother glided along peacefully. Everest opened his eyes timidly and puzzled in amazement at what he saw. They were now drifting in a wind current, his tail brushing the tips of the treetops. Everest felt a strange sense of calm, he could barely recall what they were flying away from. He giggled, what a strange and fun thing flying was!

Zephyr looked under herself at Everest and smiled softly, his giggle softening her furrowed brows. Quickly she looked up and looked behind her at the chaos she had left behind. Everest did too and what he saw made his heart ache. Two guards had now fallen, only two more remained not including Queen Amber. Amber seemed to fight with the strength of ten dragons as Skywing after Skywing hurled themselves at their very own queen. They had gone mad over a dragonet with power.

Everest felt a sense of guilt, was this his fault? His face fell and his eyes dropped the excited giddiness they once held. He didn't want dragons to die or get hurt over him. Roughly 16 dragons from the crowd still remained Everest noted, his guess was they started off with maybe 25 to 30 dragons. Maybe there was hope for them after all. Suddenly a bright jet of fire illuminated the cliff. Everest shriek as he watched the flame hit Queen Amber's right wing and she stumbled back, the force offsetting her balance.

Hearing Everest's shriek, Zephyr's dipped a couple inches startled by the loud noise. Sensing his fear she turned around to see Amber kneeling to the ground as a couple dragons appeared upon her, their eyes glinting with menace in the starlight. Zephyr gasped and quickly tucked in her wings.

The pair exited the air current, and fell into the trees as they made their crash landing. Branches and leaves thwacked his mother's side as they pummeled through the trees, her body blocking Everest from most of the hits the branches laid upon her. Retracting her wings at the last second before hitting the ground, they landed softly and safely.

Zephyr turned to Everest as she set him down gently, small cuts from the branches dotted her sharp face, small amounts of blood oozing down her face. "I have to go help her," His mother told him as she flapped her large wings, already hovering above him. She knew he would understand, she couldn't just let her sister die. Everest nodded, he did understand. That fierce look in her eyes but yet the panic of trying to save two lives, to be in two places at once. He understood, he would stay here while she saved her sister from her subjects.

"Take this my mountain." His mother said affectionately as she gazed down upon her son. She unclipped a small gold teardrop shaped earring from the base of her ear. It gleamed in the moonlight as she held in the base of her talon. She brushed her claw lovingly along his jawline and clipped the earring to the base of his own ear. She stared adoringly at him once more, and without another word she launched into the night sky, wind created from her wings swirled around him in an unnerved fashion as if the air itself sensed the uneasiness of the night.

Everest blinked once the bright world around him turning dark for a split second before he snapped his green orbs open again. His mother now just a bright orange dot of life in the great black sky. Sighing as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders he sat his small rump down. He would stay right here, this exact spot she left him in until she came back. _If she comes back_ a small part of his soul whispered. _No_ he thought fiercely, shoving down the dark vile that rose up in his throat. He touch the earring that dangled in his ear reminding him of her love.

 _She will come back. She has to._

"She's not coming back, you know." Said an icy voice. Everest's head snapped up his eyes immediately searching the spot of where the voice had spoken from. On a low hanging branch a dragon laid casually as she plucked the leaves of the tree, letting them drift to the ground.

"Yes she is," Everest said stubbornly. He tilted her head at her, trying to figure out who exactly she was and what she wanted with him. He narrowed his green eyes at her and dug his claws into the grassy forest floor preparing for some kind of attack.

"You're a very smart dragon for only being hatched a couple minutes ago," she noted and stopped plucking her leaves to study the smaller dragon. She grazed her bright blue eyes over him and seeming studying every scale on Everest's small body. "You've got peculiar eyes for a SkyWing," she thought aloud watching him intently as he subconsciously touched the scales around his eyes.

"So do you," growled Everest trying to defend himself. The dragon chuckled softly and leaped down from the branch making it quiver as it tried desperately to balance its own weight. "I am not a SkyWing, young one." She moved closer towards the clearing that he sat in. Finally she inched close enough for the moon to reflect down on her. Everest brain twisted at what he saw, and found himself wondering for not the first time that night; what _was_ she?

The dragon had blue scales, as blue as the morning sky. She had dark blue spiky spines that had a lighter blue membrane in between each one. Under her eyes she had three dark blue dots. Her flank, her neck, tail, wings, arms and legs were lined with stripes that glowed and flashed with the constant beat of Everest's heart. She had stocky short legs compared to those on his mothers, her wings were also smaller. Even though the colors and the shapes were so alien to him, they weren't the strangest thing he saw.

She was _translucent_

Her scales seemed faded and dull and as Everest looked closer, he could see the other side of the tree _through_ her body. "What are you?" he gaped, his jaw opening with awe and wonder. "I'm a SeaWing." She responded as if she were waiting for this questions. She gazed down at her claws and flexed her claws with a look of severe boredom plastered on her face. Everest noticed a light membrane in between each claws, they resembled his own he realized. He glanced down at his own talons and realized with a start the membranes had yet to fall off yet. He plucked at one, they were thin, thinner than the SeaWing's but still yet to fall off as he poked at them.

He shook his head, trying to remember what they were previously talking about before he got distracted. "No, what _are_ you?" he said looking her dead in the eye. "Why can I see through your body?" "I'm not alive," she sighed with great aching and pain in her eyes. Shock pulsed through his body sending him to take a step back. "What do you mean? You're standing right in front of me aren't you?" he frowned, possibilities flashed through his mind trying to find a reasonable explanation of what exactly was going on. "I'm cursed. Someone cursed me a long long time ago to trap my soul in the living world even after I die."

"Why?" "To punish me." "What did you do?" "I was different." She muttered her eyes filling with sadness. "Just like you." "I'm not different." Everest protested, but he knew the truth.

"You and I are what other dragons call animus dragons." She explained not bothering to argue with him. Animus? He had heard that word before, someone said he was before he hatched. He tilted his head curiously at her. He opened his mouth to ask what an animus was, but she was already there. "Animus dragons... We can basically do anything. We can enchant any object or dragon to do anything for us. For example I could tell this branch to light on fire." She said picking up a branch that lay next to her feet.

"Why do you have to enchant it? I can do that myself." Everest pointed out, the fire he felt already building up inside his chest. "But can you do this?" she said and before Everest could answer, she said cut his off. "I enchant this stick turn all the colors of the rainbow and then return to a normal stick." As soon as the words flew out of the SeaWing's mouth, the stick vibrated once in her hands and proceeded to turn the same color as his scales.

He watched in awe as the stick next turned the color of his mother's scales, then a color he had never seen before but identified as yellow. The stick then turned the color of the grass underneath his claws, the color of the SeaWing and two more colors he didn't recognize.

The stick vibrated once more then returned back to the same color it had been before, just like the SeaWing's command. "Wow," was all Everest could say. "I can do that too?" he asked receiving a nod from the older dragon. "Come with me and I'll teach you." She offered. The SkyWing opened his mouth to reply with a yes, but then he remembered his mother, who had told him not to move, that she would be back. "Your mother is gone." The SeaWing said noticing the struggle in the young dragon.

"No she's not!" the fierce dragonet roared. The SeaWing was not alarmed by the anger that Everest had exploded in. In fact it quite bothered Everest how easily she kept her cool expression. She shifted her weight from talon to talon and moved close enough to put her translucent wing around Everest's back. He glared up at her, but she didn't flinch away like he wanted her to.

"See for yourself." She kneeled and tilted her wing down towards him like a ramp so that he could climb onto her back to see over the tree tops. He gave her an odd unidentifiable look and climbed on her wing. She grunted under the weight of the dragonet, she hadn't expected him to be so heavy, but he managed to climb onto her neck swiftly. She stood and shifted their weight from talon to talon. Stretching out her wings she burst into sudden life.

Swooping upward, they climbed the air feeling the small claws around her neck, she could sense the SkyWing was in panic. Before she could say anything to soothe him, they reached the top of the trees. Remaining now were 4 of the 16 dragons he had seen from the crowd before he was dropped to the forest floor.

He could see his mother lying in the middle of the four, along with the rest of the palace guards and Queen Amber. Although they were far, he could see no sign of breathing, or life. He loudly cried out, he had lost his mother after all.

Hearing the loud noise, the four dragons on the cliff snapped their heads to his position and shouted a couple words to each other before taking off straight towards them. "Go down!" Everest shrieked at the blue dragon. Without saying anything else she bolted down towards the clearing, her heart speeding up. Her talons touched the ground quickly and Everest flung himself off of the SeaWing's back. "Quickly." She said to him and moved to the tree line, knowing the dragonet was behind him. "Take your earring off." She demanded hurriedly glancing nervously behind his shoulder every second. Everest bit his tongue to stop himself from asking why and he scrambled his claws up to the golden teardrop. His claws shook as he unclipped the earring.

He held the teardrop in his palm and glanced at the SeaWing for the next instructions. "Say, I enchant this earring to make me completely invisible to every dragon when I say 'hide me' and make me visible when I say 'I want to be seen'" she ordered. The clearing went dark, the SkyWings had approached. Hurriedly the dragonet spoke softly, "I enchant this earring to make me completely invisible to every dragon when I say 'hide me' and make me visible once more when I say 'I want to be seen'"

The earring seemingly glowed with a new power as he finished his sentence. "Where did he go?" a deep voice asked from above them. "He went into this clearing over here." Another voice said.

"Quickly tell it to hide you!" the SeaWing hissed. "Hide me." Everest ordered the earring. "Did it work?" Everest whispered glancing over to where the SeaWing stood. "See for yourself," she whispered, not bothering to look at him. Everest looked down at his talons. Or where he thought they were, he couldn't see them. Smiling to himself he knew it worked. He curled his talon around the earring and pulled it up to his ear. He clipped it onto his ear gently, in the exact place his mother had clipped it.

Everest looked out towards the clearing. The four SkyWings landed as he glanced, making his heart race. Even though he knew they couldn't see him, he was still frightened to peer into the faces that killed his mother.

One of the four stood out to him. She didn't have the same coloring as the other three dragons and she was much larger and muscular. Her scales gleamed the same color as the earring in his talon and her feet were a lighter yellow. She was different. "Where did he go?" she snapped at the other three. They all coward in fear of the larger dragon.

"He couldn't have gone far." A male dragon noted, he was the second largest. "Check the perimeter." He ordered spreading out to check for himself as if he did trust the others to do it right. The gold dragon stood in the center thinking hard. She grazed her eyes through the trees, skipping over where Everest and the SeaWing stood unmoving and silent.

"Griffin, come check this out!" the other big SkyWing's voice called from beside a tree. Everest looked curiously as the dark SkyWing kneeled over to inspect something on the forest floor. Glancing at the SeaWing who didn't seem to notice his presence, Everest moved swiftly towards the SkyWings. He avoided the branches that stood in his way, knowing if he dared made a noise, their cover would be blown. Soon he was close enough to see what they were inspecting.

It was the pile of leaves that the SeaWing had been plucking when they had met. Everest froze and watched their reactions. "Hm." Griffin pondered staring at the branch that they had been plucked from, her claws grazing lightly over the stems. "He was definitely here." She confirmed. Everest noticed how she didn't say 'they' plural, she and the other had only seen Everest in the sky. "Stay here." She called loudly allowing for the others to be able to hear her voice. "I'm going to get a search party." And with that she leapt into the sky and was gone from view.

Everest trotted quietly back to where the SeaWing stood. She sensed his air and turned to face his general direction. "Come." She whispered. "Before more come back," she moved into the clearing fearlessly, the other dragons didn't notice or acknowledge that anyone was standing there. She kneeled and tilted her wing like she had done before signaling for him to climb on.

Glancing at the other dragons he stepped gingerly into the clearing. When they did look at him he continued toward the SeaWing. He climbed onto her back, cringing as he trotted up her wing. Immediately after he looped his front legs she burst into the air, flapping her powerful wings as hard as she could.

They rose above the trees and glided peacefully, without a general idea of where to go. "Where are we going?" Everest asked. "The Claw Mountains." "Will we be safe there?" The SeaWing didn't respond. A singular tear trickled down Everest's face. The events of the SkyWing's hunting them overshadowed the fact that his mother and aunt, who fought so diligently to protect him and his mother. Were gone. They were really gone. He wiped away his tears, his mother would have wanted him to be strong.

"What's your name?" Everest tried, desperately trying to make conversation "Storm." "Nice to meet you Storm, I'm Everest," Everest said between yawns. His eyelids started to get heavy and his limbs started to get numb. "I know who you are young one." Storm said wisely. Everest opened his jaw to ask her how that was possible, but his words could not form. He was just too tired and too devastated from all the losses he had suffered today. "Now go to sleep young one. We'll be there soon." Storm said her voice dripping with some emotion Everest didn't recognize.

He nodded onto her shoulder and scooted back, so that he was in between her two shoulder blades. He started to close his eyes, but as if he had remembered something, he snapped opened his eyes. "I want to be seen." He muttered, and watched as his talons faded back into reality.

And with sudden wave of peace, he closed his eyes and dreamed of his mother.


End file.
